To enable continuous control of a heat exchange capacity of a heat source side heat exchanger, a conventional refrigeration cycle apparatus is proposed in, for example, Patent Literature 1 such that “a heat source unit side heat exchanger is formed by connecting a first refrigerant circuit 21, a second refrigerant circuit 22, and a third refrigerant circuit 23 that has been branched and that has been connected in parallel to each other. A first heat exchanger 24 is disposed in the first refrigerant circuit 21; a first solenoid valve 3a for opening/closing the heat source unit side heat exchanger is provided in one end of the first heat exchanger 24 on the four-way valve 2 side, which is capable of opening/closing a two way flow; and a third solenoid valve 3c for opening/closing the heat source unit side heat exchanger is provided in the other end of the first heat exchanger 24, which is capable of opening/closing a two way flow. Distribution of a refrigerant to the first refrigerant circuit 21 is controlled with the opening/closing of the two solenoid valves 3a and 3c, and whether heat exchange is carried out in the first heat exchanger 24 is controlled. A second heat exchanger 25 is disposed in the second refrigerant circuit 22; a second solenoid valve 3b for opening/closing the heat source unit side heat exchanger is provided in one end of the second heat exchanger 25 on the four-way valve 2 side, which is capable of opening/closing a two way flow; and a fourth solenoid valve 3d for opening/closing the heat source unit side heat exchanger is provided in the other end of the second heat exchanger 25, which is capable of opening/closing a two way flow. Distribution of the refrigerant to the first refrigerant circuit 22 is controlled with the opening/closing of the two solenoid valves 3b and 3d, and whether heat exchange is carried out in the second heat exchanger 25 is controlled. A solenoid valve 3e for bypassing the first heat source unit side heat exchanger, which is capable of opening/closing a two way flow, is disposed mid-way of the piping of the third refrigerant circuit 23, and whether there will be a refrigerant flow bypassing the first heat exchanger 24 and the second heat exchanger 25 is controlled with the opening/closing of the solenoid valve 3e. 
. . . The capacity of the heat source unit side heat exchanger is controlled by the following four stages. . . . A first stage corresponds to a case in which the required capacity of the heat source unit side heat exchanger is the largest, . . . refrigerant is made to flow into both the first and second heat exchangers 24 and 25 and no refrigerant is made to flow into the third refrigerant circuit 23 while an air volume of a heat source unit side air-sending device 18 is controlled by controlling the air-sending device from stop to full speed with an inverter or the like (not shown). . . . A second stage corresponds to a case in which the required capacity of the heat source unit side heat exchanger is second largest next to the first stage, . . . refrigerant is made to flow into only the second heat exchanger 25 and . . . no refrigerant is made to flow into the first heat exchanger 24 and the third refrigerant circuit 23 to substantially reduce the heat transfer area of the heat source unit side heat exchanger 3 while an air volume of a heat source unit side air-sending device 18 is controlled by controlling the air-sending device from stop to full speed with an inverter or the like (not shown). . . . A third stage corresponds to a case in which the required capacity of the heat source unit side heat exchanger is smaller than that of the second stage, . . . refrigerant is made to flow into the second heat exchanger 25 and the third refrigerant circuit 23 and no refrigerant is made to flow into the first refrigerant circuit 21, that is, the first heat exchanger 24 to substantially reduce the heat transfer area of the heat source unit side heat exchanger 3 and reduce the flow rate of the refrigerant to the second heat exchanger 25 while an air volume of a heat source unit side air-sending device 18 is controlled by controlling the air-sending device from stop to full speed with an inverter or the like (not shown). . . . A fourth step corresponds to a case in which the required capacity of the heat source unit side heat exchanger is the smallest in which the solenoid valve 3e for bypassing the first heat source unit side heat exchanger is opened and the first, second, third, and fourth solenoid valves 3a, 3b, 3c, and 3d are closed so that there will be no heat exchange in the heat source unit side heat exchanger 3.
. . . Even if there is outside wind, the first stage and the second stage can be continuously controlled on condition that the capacity AK2MAX of the heat source unit side heat exchanger when the heat source unit side air-sending device 18 in the second stage is run at full speed is larger than the capacity AK1MAX of the heat source unit side heat exchanger when the heat source unit side air-sending device 18 is stopped, that is, when the wind velocity of the outside wind allows AK2MAX>AK1MAX. Similarly, even if there is outside wind, the second stage and the third stage can be continuously controlled on condition that the capacity AK3MAX of the heat source unit side heat exchanger when the heat source unit side air-sending device 18 in the third stage is run at full speed is equivalent to the outside wind of the second stage and is larger than the capacity AK2MAX of the heat source unit side heat exchanger when the heat source unit side air-sending device 18 is stopped, that is, when AK3MAX>AK3MAX.